While he occasionally concerns himself with backgrounds, he focuses on the
couple’s expressions during intimate moments. “Say the couple gets
married at the Ritz—yes, we want them in a photo where you can see the
décor of the room, but my main goal is just to capture them enjoying
one another.”

According to McFarlane, these head-thrown-back-in-laughter, face-contorted-with-emotion
images get so much attention from potential clients, it’s virtually unnecessary
for him to do any other marketing. He has been advertising with www.theknot.com
since 2000. “I feel they’re the only ones that actually work for
me,” says McFarlane.

The icing on the cake is the physical album the bride carries away with
her. “I
design pretty much all of the albums myself,” says McFarlane. “It’s
very time-consuming, but I guess that’s the price you pay for quality.”

A McFarlane album is one trip down memory lane a bride might not want to
take without packing a box of tissues.